The helicopter company operating in the country is struggling to meet the demand of tourists, so it is difficult to provide services for the elections. With about a month to go before the elections, advance bookings from tourists have made it difficult to go to the elections.
Various helicopters, including Simrik, Shree Airlines, Kailash, Prabhu, Air Dynasty, Mustang, Heli Everest, Manang, and Altitude, are being used to carry tourists. After three years, there has been a significant demand in the helicopter industry.
Yogesh Sapkota, chief executive marketing officer of Simrik Air, said that the demand for election purposes was not met due to the high demand for foreign tourists.
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‘There were one or two inquiries. However, due to the tourist’s peak season, we could not take bookings for election campaigning,’ said Sapkota, ‘For this time, advance bookings have come from foreign tourists.’
He informed that, currently, the company is providing flight services through three out of four helicopters.
Pratapjung Pandey, director of Kailash Helicopters, said that it is difficult to get bookings for election campaigning due to full booking till November. “We have given first priority to flights that have already been booked. Along with this, we have given to the rescue flight. It is difficult to get other bookings,’ he said. The company has been providing flight services through three helicopters.
Sitaram Sapkota, marketing head of Heli Everest, said that it is not possible to meet the intermittent demand due to the high demand from tourists. At present, the company is providing flight services with two out of three helicopters.
Similarly, the Deputy General Manager of Prabhu Helicopters said that with the significant demand for foreign tourists, the demand for election campaigns could not be met. ‘Booking has been full for the whole month of November,’ he said. He informed me that currently, the company is providing flight services through four out of six helicopters.
Balkrishna Pandit, the operations manager of Air Dynasty, said that with the increase in the demand of foreign tourists, It is difficult to provide services according to the demand of tourists. Even if there are one or two demands for election campaigning, we are not in a position to provide services,’ he said.
Director of Altitude Air Nima Nuru Sherpa said that there was not much booking for the election this time. ‘Now it is difficult to meet the demand for rescue and mountain flights. Another is that it is difficult to meet the demand as one pilot has to meet the 70-hour standard per month,” he said.
Currently, the company is providing flight services through two helicopters. All the companies have stated that they have been flying for seven hours as per the standards of the Civil Aviation Authority.
